Sous Vide Short Ribs

[DanM]

There are a hundreds comments across dozens of threads about cooking beef short ribs by sous vide. I hope the admins dont mind me starting a thread dedicated to this topic to help consolidate some of the knowledge out there.

 

I just picked up a ChefStep Joule this past week and want to break it in cooking some short ribs that are in the freezer. The times and temperatures I have seen vary wildly. What is the consensus here? Are their any good recipes I should check out?

 

Right now my plan is to follow the information on Modernist cuisine's website and cook the ribs for 72 hours at 62c. I will give it a dry rub before going in the bag https://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/72-hour-braised-short-ribs/. I will then place them on the grill with barbecue sauce for a quick sear. This is subject to change based on new information from the peanut gallery.

 

Thanks!!

 

Dan

Edited December 10, 2019 by DanM (log)

[gfweb]

To me, SV short ribs are very different from braised.Equally tender, but a very different taste. I prefer the braised in red wine with aromatic veg.

 

SV short ribs are tasty meat, but braised is more than the sum of its parts.

[Anna N]

I think the beauty of sous vide short ribs is the opportunity to choose the consistency of the end product.  Short ribs cooked to be steak-like are a revelation. 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

There is another thread on this topic but I am unsure about how to reference it so just do a search.

Meanwhile these videos show you what the texture is of various times and temps...your preference.

One thing I have found about ribs...it really depends on the quality of the meat.  Get the best quality you can.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/chefsteps/search?query=short+ribs

[paulraphael]

I just cooked a big short rib meal sous-vide, with a recipe I developed a couple of years ago and never had a chance to try. The big question is always the temperature/time combination. I spent some time thinking about what texture to go for, and decided against the extremes (modern s-v like-a-steak / the classic s-v like-a-braise). I wanted some qualities of each: a bit of pink, good juiciness, cohesive enough to plate but fork-tender. I decided on 69°C for 48 hours (but did the first 4 hours at 40°C to get more enzymatic flavor development). 

 

This was after a pre-sear on all sides to kill surface bugs. I found a great new butcher in NYC who gets all his meat from and upstate farm where they raise a cross  between angus and French charolais cows. I'm not usually a big fan of east coast grass-finished beef, because there's so little marbling, but this stuff looked like prime, grain-finished meat. Really wild. The butcher said it's because of the breeding. The ribs I got had about 2-1/2 weeks of dry age ... not much, but the age flavors were amplified by the low temperature start. 

 

I was really happy with how these turned out. I got one piece that was dry and stringy, but my other pieces and everyone else's were just as I'd hoped. Not sure what happened to the dry bit. 

 

The sauce was made with some some jus de viande (a pressure cooked take on meat glace), porcini mushrooms, port, and a background of winter spices that included star anise. 

 

At the end of the day this was way more work than just braising it in the oven, but I'll do it again for a special occasion. The consistency and appearance of the meat was a treat and probably not possible with other methods.  

 

Didn't take any pics of the plated meal at the dinner. But I'll try to remember to get one of the leftovers when we heat them up.

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, paulraphael said:

 

 

I found a great new butcher in NYC who gets all his meat from and upstate farm where they raise a cross  between angus and French charolais cows.

 

Who is this?

[gfweb]

@paulraphael Was it easily pulled apart? 

 

I've not loved my previous SV short ribs. They were firm and roast beef like. Not bad, but not wonderful like red wine braised SR with veg.

[haresfur]

I've gone off SV short ribs because the fat ends up disgusting IMO. but enjoy them if you like it. You can always separate out the meat, but that's not a task I find pleasant either.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I do sous vide to pasteurize.  Then I have ribs in the refrigerator as convenience food.

 

[paulraphael]

22 hours ago, KennethT said:

Who is this?

 

They're called Ends Meat. The main store is downstairs at the new Essex Market. They have a satellite store at Industry City in Brooklyn. 

[paulraphael]

21 hours ago, gfweb said:

@paulraphael Was it easily pulled apart? 

 

I've not loved my previous SV short ribs. They were firm and roast beef like. Not bad, but not wonderful like red wine braised SR with veg.

 

You can get whatever texture you want, by varying time and temperature. Steak-like textures are the most famous sous-vide trick, but they're not the only option. Lots of people don't like this. You can get a traditional braised texture as well. Although you could argue that if this is your goal, you might as well just braise. 

 

I use s.v. to go for textures that are between those extremes. I also do very little traditional braising these days, because our current oven smells like a gas leak when it runs at low temperatures (the gas company has come over three times and insists we don't have a gas leak ... that the oven just smells like that. Go figure). 

[paulraphael]

21 hours ago, haresfur said:

I've gone off SV short ribs because the fat ends up disgusting IMO. but enjoy them if you like it. You can always separate out the meat, but that's not a task I find pleasant either.

 

At what time / temperature?

[haresfur]

35 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

 

At what time / temperature?

 

If I recall, the last time I did them was 57 degrees for 72 hours

[scubadoo97]

One of my first SV attempts 

 

you can do them to achieve a traditional texture or where they cut like a tender steak.  

[paulraphael]

On 2/2/2020 at 5:33 PM, haresfur said:

 

If I recall, the last time I did them was 57 degrees for 72 hours

 

That's really low. You're at the extreme end of medium-rare steak-like ribs. This is kind of a sous-vide magic trick, and isn't to everyone's tastes. I suspect the reason this is more often done at 60C is to get the fat to melt to a more pleasing texture, but I can't vouch for it. 

 

There are many different textures available between what you've done and a traditional braise.